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The Beast Within [Blu-ray]
(Philippe Mora, 1982)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: MGM / United Artists Video: Shout! Factory / Arrow Films
Disc: Region: 'A' / Region 'B' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)Runtime: 1:38:26.400 / 1:38:24.690 Disc Size: 23,440,381,696 bytes / 41,803,232,128 bytes Feature Size: 23,018,532,864 bytes / 30,194,464,128 bytes Video Bitrate: 26.98 Mbps / 34.99 Mbps Chapters: 11 / 12 Case: Standard Blu-ray case / Transparent Blu-ray case Release date: December 17th, 2013 / May 12th, 2014
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2043 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2043 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentaries:
Dolby Digital Audio
English
256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256
kbps
LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps /
24-bit LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles: None English, none
Extras: • Audio Commentary with director Philippe Mora and Actor Paul Clemens • Audio Commentary with screenwriter Tom Holland• Theatrical Trailer (1:28) • Radio Spots (1:02)
•
New audio commentary with director Philippe Mora moderated
by author Calum Waddell
Bitrate:
Description: A teenager is experiencing growing pains of a
most shocking kind in this exciting, tense and all-too-real
story of a human-into monster transformation.
The Film: Bibi Besch and Ronny Cox are honeymooning in Mississippi (which may have been their first mistake) when someone or something with hairy legs rapes Besch. Seventeen years later their son, Paul Clemens, is not the kind of kid you'd like to introduce to your daughter. Matter of fact, he's weird and not feeling too well, so Mom and Dad take him back to Mississippi to see whether his problems are related to that hairy thing we met in reel one. They are, of course, and the teen soon transforms (in some disgustingly effective cheap effects by Tom Burman) into a giant insect creature that roams the area, ripping the limbs off passersby. Written by Tom Holland, who would go on to write and direct FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY, the script does a nice job of translating the awkwardness of adolescence into a horrifying event. Australian director Philippe Mora (THE HOWLING III) concentrates on exploiting the creepy atmospherics of the Deep South. A strong cast of veteran character actors (Cox, R.G. Armstrong, Luke Askew, and L.Q. Jones) lends credibility to the outrageous premise. Made on location in Raymond, Mississippi, and produced by THE OMEN's Harvey Bernhard. Excerpt from TV Guide located HERETom Burman's innovative prosthetic special effects (used to greater effect in later horror films) are the saving grace of The Beast Within. The premise concerns a couple honeymooning in Mississippi. Caroline (Bibi Besch) is brutally raped by a hairy, sub-human monster and gives birth to a child named Michael (Paul Clemens), who appears normal until he hits his teens. At 17, Michael begins to feel strange, and his parents take him back to Mississippi to find out if his problems are related to Caroline's long-ago rape. Once in Mississippi, Michael transforms into a ravenous insect-like creature that roams the countryside, disemboweling innocent victims and feasting on their torsos. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The Beast Within looks pleasing on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory - another in their line of marginal, but effective horror-genre efforts from 30-odd years ago. The image quality is super clean and crisp via the single-layered transfer. Colors are bright, skin tones appear warm and there is frequent depth exhibited. Contrast is layered with effective black levels. There was no noise in the darker sequences (which are very dark - notably the beginning) and overall a strong presentation is offered by the disc.
Arrow advances upon the Shout! Factory video transfer rendering theirs to a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. Visuals crisp up and get noticeably tighter. Depending on how discerning your eyes, or system, is the improvement varies but is definitely there.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample Arrow Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Audio :Also an adept lossless audio via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel stereo track at 2043 kbps. There are effects that have intense aggression producing a deep response and the score by Les Baxter (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, Panic in the Year Zero, US version of Baron Blood) is well supported. There are no subtitles offered on the region 'A' Blu-ray disc.
Very similar audio on the Arrow - lossless, stereo and sounding clean and crisp. But the UK disc offers optional English subtitles - and it is region 'B'-locked.
Extras : Two commentaries, the first with director Philippe Mora and actor Paul Clemens focusing on details of certain scenes and overall production and characterization and a second with screenwriter Tom Holland advancing concepts of the story. There is also a theatrical trailer and superfluous Radio Spot.
A new commentary from director Philippe Mora moderated by author Calum Waddell. There is also some new video supplements including the 45-minute I Was a Teenage Cicada: The Making of The Beast Within which includes an in-depth look back at Philippe Mora’s creature feature classic featuring new interviews with writer Tom Holland, actors Paul Clemens, John Dennis Johnston, Katherine Moffat and effects wizard Garry Elmendorf. Excellent. Storyboarding The Beast spends 13-minutes in an all-new animated featurette in which Mora discusses the film’s journey from storyboard to screen. a 5-minute image gallery includes rare production stills from the private collection of star Paul Clemens plus new photographs of various special effects props. There is an original trailer, the package has a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Marc Schoenbach and a liner notes collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Lee Gambin, author of Massacred by Mother Nature: Exploring the Natural Horror Film plus a contemporary article on the film’s production, all illustrated with original stills and artwork.
Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Arrow Films - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
BOTTOM LINE:
The film remains oddly compelling and it seems the more complete Blu-ray edition belongs to Arrow (again!) It's a pleasure to delve into such a complete, professional Blu-ray package - Arrow's dedication is consistently impressive!Gary Tooze December 10th, 2013 May 6th, 2014
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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